


Unforeseen

by Monsterpanda



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fantasy, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-08-31 23:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8597680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsterpanda/pseuds/Monsterpanda
Summary: Aurelia, daughter of Valentine, his mistake, must come together with her half sister to defeat their father before he kills and ruins their world. Raphael breaks his 1 rule: never trust a Nephilim. He falls for the fair haired girl with the golden eyes, doing his best to help her through this trying time. Isabelle and Alec Lightwood bring her into their family without hesitation, until their parents come and find out who her father is.





	1. Chapter 1

Hello beautiful nerds, here is my new story for yall. I hope that you guys will enjoy it. Character pictures and outfits will be on my polyvore @Noellamonster. And as usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. 

“Liar!” the young girl exclaimed, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. Her brother laughed, his golden curls bouncing as he moved. 

“Ask mom then!” they had been arguing for the past hour, he was trying to convince her she was really a slimy toad that their mom had turned into a human because she so desperately wanted a daughter. 

“Mommy!” she screamed as she shoved her brother and ran into the house. “Mac said I’m a froggy!” her brows furrowed as she stood in front of her mom, her arms crossed. 

“Mac!” their mom, Madeline, screamed. “You get your bum over here now!” his lack of listening and foolish need to torment his sister was definitely working his moms’ nerves. 

“Yes?” he smiled as he entered the room, his attitude and black eyes matched their fathers although they had never actually met him. He came around once and that is how they were born, their mom claimed to love him but he loved another. He was painfully drunk off some fairy drink, Madeline doubt he even remembered their single night together. Although he sent special drinks and food for them both on occasion, they adored the odd golden liquids and cookies. While pregnant those same treats were sent for her, she also adored them.

“Apologize, now.” Madeline demanded, her warm honey eyes gleaming. 

“I don’t want to” he shrugged, “I’m not sorry.” With those words his sister had launched her tiny self at him, knocking him over then hitting him with her tiny fists. 

With a groan Madeline pulled them apart, sent Mac to his room and had Aurelia (pronounced ah-ree-ella) help her make dinner. 

Aurelia was much different than her brother, she was not as cruel as he was nor did she look much like him, her beautiful wavy hair a silvery white, her eyes liquid bronzy gold, her skin so pale she might be mistaken for a vampire. Although her brother had the same skin and so did her mother. No one believed Aurelia and Mac were twins but Madeline assured everyone that there was no doubt they were. 

Madeline herself had warm honey brown eyes, as if honey and chocolate swirled endlessly. Her charcoal hair was long and embedded with waves, strands of silver stood out more than she’d like. In recent years more of the silver hair had sprung up as Macs behavior got worse and Aurelia got more daring. 

Aurelia was never afraid to stand up to her brother, even though he once broke her arm while they fought. 

Madeline had to lie about that, had told paramedics and friends that she had fallen off the swing set at the nearby park. The lie nagged at her, tore her apart simply because her other child was the one to hurt her. If their father was here would they act differently? She had asked herself this question each day that passed but she knew the answer was no, they would be worse. Madeline was glad their father wasn’t here, she was glad he faked his death and practically disappeared, she was thankful they weren’t as bad as their father. 

“Mommy?” Aurelia pulled Madeline from her deep thoughts. Aurelia was only five yet wise beyond her tiny years. Madeline believed it was because of her bloodline. Although she never wanted to tell her that, never wanted to tell anyone that but she knew one day she would have to confess the unholy truth to her children. 

“Yes Aurelia?” 

“Will we meet daddy one day?”

“One day. He’s a busy man” her voice broke, she hoped and she prayed that her children would never have the displeasure of meeting the man they came from. 

 

Aurelia’s p.o.v—11 years later

“Are you sure you don’t want to celebrate your birthday?” my mom was always insistent that I let her throw some kind of celebration for my birthday, her attempts were filled with love but made me feel sluggish and exhausted. “You can invite friends” with a grimace I turned to her, her shoulders slumped. “Still no luck?” her cheery tone flopped, her features sagged slightly showing age she had not reached. 

“No, we go through this every year mom and it hasn’t changed. I have no friends.” 

“What about that girl you were talking to last week?” hope crept in to her voice, I shook my head. “What happened?”

“A prank, ended up covered in pudding and feathers and various cuts and bruises. Don’t you remember?” she looked like I had slapped her, part of me blamed her. She made sure I was a skilled fighter but never let me protect myself, I was so tired of being beaten down, so tired of every lie and prank. Their taunts, whispered secrets of some freak illness their parents had speculated about. No one is born with white hair, no one healthy was so pale. 

“Aurelia…” she started even though it was clear she didn’t know what to say to comfort me. I didn’t want her to comfort me anyway, I turned away from her and with a wave of my hand my door slammed shut. 

My stubby fingers curled around the golden key around my neck, something my mother gave to me as an early birthday present. ‘I pray the day will never come that you have to use it.’ She had said mere moments ago. ‘This key will unlock a place that will keep you safe.’ She wouldn’t explain further which only furthered my frustrations. 

I spun around in my swivel chair, uninterested in the essay I was writing. A duffel bag sat in the corner of my opened closet, it was packed with god knows what. Mom had made me promise to not open it until absolutely necessary although I had no idea when it would be.

I stood and walked towards it, silently hoping she wouldn’t burst into my room and punish me for even thinking of looking inside it. I bent down and fumbled for the zipper, looking over my shoulder every few seconds.

“What the hell” I cursed, the zipper was completely gone. There was no way for me to open it. How does she expect me to open it when I need to if there is no zipper? 

“Mom used her magic again” It was Mac, a scowl crossed my face. “Still not happy to see me?” he laughed. “As if I care. But yeah, I tried earlier too. Can’t cut it either.” My mother didn’t tell us much about herself, she said once she was something called a shadowhunter but was exiled for becoming a witch, said our father was exiled for a different reason. Neither my brother or I knew what the hell a shadowhunter was and at first we didn’t believe she was a witch until she proved it. 

Our father, for less than a year, had sent us odd treats then abruptly stopped without explanation. I was glad it stopped when it did, our mom had told us the treats she thought were innocent were anything but. And like everything else she gave us very little information about it. Other than saying our father had used her to aid in the creation of more shadowhunters. 

“Whatever, she makes no fucking sense” with an exasperated sigh I kicked the bag and nearly screamed as pain flared up my leg. 

Mac laughed, a deep and nearly ghastly sound. “Mom has ice waiting”

“Guessing you did the same thing?” he nodded in response then walked out of the room. My gaze drifted to the duffel, what could possibly be in it?


	2. Pandemonium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the end for Aurelia and her family.

Hello beautiful nerds, here is my new story for yall. I hope that you guys will enjoy it. Character pictures and outfits will be on my polyvore @Noellamonster. And as usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners.

 

*August same year, Mac and Aurelia are 17

Summer was coming to an end, thankfully. I hated the sticky heat and peeling my clothes from my body like a second skin. “Don’t worry, Pandemonium is a great place.” Mac reassured me, “Lots of pretty girls and girls” he smirked as we shuffled through the impossibly long line. The cold night air keeping us cool. 

Mac came to Pandemonium twice a week with friends except now mom practically begged him to take me with him and force me to make some sort of friend. It felt pointless, something told me that no friend I made would be permanent. I didn’t think a club was going to be a good place to make friends and neither did Mac but our mom wasn’t going to let up any time soon. 

My heart dropped down into my stomach as panic raced through me, “Mac” I said “Did you tell her? Mom.”

He scoffed, “I’m not that big of an ass, I will never tell her unless you tell me to.” He was a horrible person most of the time but it was easy to see he did care about me. “Also” he leaned in closer, “Your knife is showing a little too much”

I tucked the black dagger into my leather jacket, not something that would be good for the bouncer to see. 

Another twenty minutes passed before we were let in, some blue haired boy held up the line for several minutes. “You think that ginger girl is cute?” Mac elbowed me, only a few feet ahead of us was a beautiful girl with pale skin dotted with freckles and carrot top hair. Her features reminded me of my own, she seemed so familiar. 

“Do we know her?” I asked him, he watched her for a few moments. 

“Don’t think so but I think I know the guy she’s with, Simon.” Before he could walk over to them we were swept away by the glowing crowd. 

The rhythmic music vibrated my bones, haunting melodies chilling my core as I swayed with one of Macs friends. My mind wandered to the ginger girl every second, I couldn’t figure out why she looked so familiar to me but not my brother. 

“Aurelia!” Mac shouted over the music, “How bout her!” he pointed across the room to a girl with caramel skin dressed in all white. She stood out like a beacon, when she looked back it was easy to tell just how gorgeous she was. My heart leapt at the sight of her and my cheeks warmed. “We have a winner!” he declared and grabbed my hand. 

“No! What?!” he just laughed and pulled me along leaving his friends to get lost in the crowd of sweaty dancing colorful bodies. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you if you get stuck” he assured me, I don’t think he understands how stuck I’ll get. This girl was way out of my league and I didn’t even know if she was into girls and with my luck she’d be homophobic. 

I didn’t have a label for myself, actually. Pretty people surrounded as at any given moment, each blessed with some gift. It was no wonder that they were the subject of so many songs.

“I think she went into that room” he pointed to a door that was clearly marked no admittance, storage. 

“Why would she go in there?” something about this didn’t feel right, he shrugged and opened the door and we slipped in. “I don’t feel comfortable with this” I hissed. 

He held out his hand, hushing me. The girl was in here with three boys, one tall and pale with gleaming pale blonde hair, the boy with electric blue hair styled so it looked like he shoved something in a light socket, and a boy that resembled herself. Probably her brother. The two boys with normal colored hair were clad in all black with weapons drawn. What the hell did we walk in to? 

Mac and I slumped against the wall and behind boxes, we watched and listened to their chatter. The girl brandished a glittering gold whip, “He’s all yours, boys” she smirked. 

One of the boys laughed as if he couldn’t be enjoying this more, he threw the blue haired boy against one of the stone pillars while the other bound his hands with wire that had been scattered on the floor. My heart was going a mile a second, the look on Macs face told me he was just as confused but more excited. 

“So” the boy who resembled the beautiful girl said, his metallic blue eyes glittering with flecks of silver. “Are there any more with you?” He was also quite attractive. 

"Shadowhunter," he hissed, his stare venomous. 

The boy with liquid gold eyes smirked smugly, his stare taunting the blue haired boy. "Got you," he said.

Shadowhunters, he called them shadowhunters. I wanted to spring up and start firing off questions, questions my mother refused to answer. Mac must have thought the same thing because just as I was about to he grabbed my wrist and shook his head then motioned to keep listening. 

I nearly jumped when the door opened, the ginger girl stood there looking confused as she looked around and then suddenly her eyes widened as she saw the group of teens who looked ready to kill this kid. She looked shocked, bewildered. She jumped behind one of the stone pillars and watched them with a terrified and curious stare. Mac hadn’t noticed her yet, hopefully she wouldn’t notice us either. 

The golden eyed boy paced in front of the one with blue hair. "So," he said. "You still haven't told me if there are any other of your kind with you."

Mac couldn’t tear his eyes away from them but my eyes flickered to the ginger girl, I moved quickly and now stood beside her and out of their site. “Do you know them?” she questioned, unsurprised that I appeared. 

“No, I was kind of hoping you did. My brothers right there” I pointed to him, he glared at me then looked back to the people who might be from some gang for all we know. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." The blue-haired boy's tone was pained but surly.

"He means other demons," the boy with dark hair and burning blue eyes said "You do know what a demon is, don't you?"

The boy tied to the pillar turned his face away, his lips turned down in a scowl. 

"Demons," drawled the blond boy, tracing the word on the air with his finger. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside our own home dimension—"

 

"That's enough, Jace," the girl cut him off, her dark tangled hair now pulled up into a pony tail. 

 

"Isabelle's right," agreed the taller boy. "Nobody here needs a lesson in semantics—or demonology." 

If my mother wasn’t a witch, I might think they’re completely insane but for now I’ll just think they’re a little crazy and I’m uneducated in demonology as the dark haired boy said. What was his name?

"Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much," Jace looked arrogant, his chest puffed and his head raised high. Like the lions I had photographed at the zoo when their prey had been released. "Do you think I talk too much?"

The blue-haired boy didn't reply. His mouth was still working. "I could give you information," he said. "I know where Valentine is."

Jace glanced back at Alec, who shrugged. "Valentine's in the ground," Jace said. "The thing's just toying with us." My heart hammered, I had read my mother’s letter to my father once. She referred to him as Valentine and I doubt that names very common.

Isabelle tossed her hair. "Kill it, Jace," she said. "It's not going to tell us anything."

Jace raised his hand, dim light sparked off the blade. It was oddly translucent, the blade clear as crystal, sharp as a shard of glass, the hilt set with red stones. A knife I would love to get my hands on.

The bound boy gasped. "Valentine is back!" he protested, dragging at the bounds that held his hands behind his back. "All the Infernal Worlds know it—I know it—I can tell you where he is—"

Rage flared suddenly in Jace's golden eyes. "By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is too. He's in hell. And you—" Jace turned the knife in his grasp, the edge sparking like a line of fire. "You can join him there."

The ginger was bouncing on the balls of her feet, jittery. Oh fuck, I cursed. I grabbed her just as she jumped out from behind the pillar dragging me with her. “Stop!” she cried "You can't do this." 

Jace whirled, so startled that the knife flew from his hand and clattered against the concrete floor. Isabelle and Alec turned along with him, wearing identical expressions of astonishment. The blue-haired boy hung in his bounds, stunned and gaping.

It was Alec who spoke first. "What's this?" he demanded, looking from us to Jace and Isabelle as if they held the answers he was lacking.

"They’re girls," Jace said, recovering his composure. "Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. Your sister Isabelle is one." He took a step closer to the ginger eyeing me as he did, his stare held questions. I knew the stare all too well. His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing "Mundie’s," he said, half to himself. "And they can see us."

"Of course I can see you," ginger girl sounded exasperated. "I'm not blind, you know."

"Oh, but you are," said Jace, bending to pick up his knife. "You just don't know it." He straightened up. "You'd both better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. "If I do, you'll kill him." She pointed at the boy with the blue hair.

"That's true," admitted Jace, twirling the knife between his fingers. "What do you care if I kill him or not? And you, do you care to speak?” 

"Be-because—," she spluttered before I could say anything, I rolled my eyes. "You can't just go around killing people."

"You're right," said Jace. "You can't go around killing people." He pointed at the boy with blue hair, whose eyes were slitted like he was faking unconsciousness. "That's not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."

 

"Jace," said Isabelle warningly. "That's enough." Even now I was distracted by how beautiful she is.

 

"You're crazy," ginger girl countered, backing away from him. "I've called the police, you know. They'll be here any second."

"She's lying," Alecs voice conveyed confidence but his expression was doubtful "Jace, do you—"

He never got to finish his sentence. At that moment the blue-haired boy, with a high, yowling cry, tore free of the restraints binding him to the pillar, and flung himself on Jace. The ginger girl looked on with more fear than before, my brother looked on with more excitement, my heart beat faster as I watched. I wasn’t surprised or scared like I should have been, part of me wanted to run forward and help but another part told me it’d be a bad decision. 

They fell to the ground and rolled together, the blue-haired boy tearing at Jace with hands that glittered as if tipped with metal. I turned to the ginger girl right as she fell to the ground with a loud thud, at first I thought she had fainted but instead she had tangled her legs in wires. Isabelle’s shrieking caught my attention. Rolling over, the blue-haired boy was sitting on Jace's chest. Blood gleamed at the tips of his razor like claws.

 

Isabelle and Alec were running toward them, Isabelle brandishing a whip in her hand. The blue-haired boy slashed at Jace with claws extended. Jace threw an arm up to protect himself, and the claws raked it, splattering blood. The blue-haired boy lunged again—and Isabelle's whip came down across his back. He shrieked and fell to the side. 

Swift as a flick of Isabelle's whip, Jace rolled over. There was a blade gleaming in his hand. He sank the knife into the blue-haired boy's chest. Blackish liquid exploded around the hilt. The boy arched off the floor, gurgling and twisting. With a grimace Jace stood up. His black shirt was blacker now in some places, wet with blood. He looked down at the twitching form at his feet, reached down, and yanked out the knife. The hilt was slick with black fluid, something that reminded me of the liquid my mother would come home covered in, especially when I was young. 

The blue-haired boy's eyes flickered open. His eyes, fixed on Jace, seemed to burn. Between his teeth, he hissed, "So be it. The Forsaken will take you all."

Jace seemed to snarl as the boy made a grab for his leg but before he knew what was happing my knife was embedded in his neck. More of the black blood spurting out and soon the boy crumbled and folded in on himself until he disappeared. Without thought I walked forward and picked up my dagger, taking a tissue out of my pocket to wipe the ooze off before walking back to the ginger girl. 

Ginger girl scrambled to her feet, kicking free of the electrical wiring. She began to back away although none of the three were paying either of us any attention, unsurprisingly. 

Alec had reached Jace and was holding his arm, pulling at the sleeve, probably trying to get a good look at the wound. Ginger girl turned to run but instead found her way blocked by Isabelle, whip in hand. The gold length of it was stained with the dark liquid. She flicked it toward the ginger girl, and the end wrapped itself around her wrist and jerked tight. It seemed unnecessary, she could easily take the ginger girl if she decided to try and fight her way out. 

"Stupid little mundie," Isabelle snarled between her teeth. "You could have gotten Jace killed."

"He's crazy," ginger girl said, trying to pull her wrist back. The whip bit deeper into her skin. "You're all crazy. What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police—"

"The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body," said Jace. Cradling his arm, he picked his way across the cable-strewn floor toward ginger girl and I. Alec followed behind him, face screwed into a scowl.

The ginger girls gaze darted to the spot where the human sonic had been. I should be as afraid as she is but I lacked that emotion at the moment, maybe later I would freak out and start screaming but for now everything seemed oddly normal. 

"They return to their home dimensions when they die," said Jace. "In case you were wondering."

 

"Jace," Alec hissed. "Be careful."

 

Jace drew his arm away. A ghoulish freckling of blood marked his face. His lion like features making him look less human in the dimming light, his pale golden hair and liquid gold eyes something so unnatural. "They can see us, Alec," he said. "This one killed it, they already know too much.” Arrogantly smug. 

 

"So what do you want me to do with them?" Isabelle demanded, even anger suited her. Making her look like a goddess filled with wrath, I tore my eyes away before anyone noticed I was staring, my cheeks warmed with the rising blood. 

"Let them go," Jace said quietly. Isabelle looked shocked and angry with his decision as if his usual one was to kill intruders, but she didn't argue. The whip slithered away, freeing ginger girls arm. She rubbed her sore wrist, still looking quite jittery.

"Maybe we should bring them back with us," Alec said. "I bet Hodge would like to talk to them.”

"No way are we bringing her to the Institute," said Isabelle with a pointed stare to ginger girl. "Besides, they’re mundies."

"Or are they?" said Jace softly, ginger girl flinched at his words the fear seeming to fill her again. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with warlocks, talked with the Night Children? Have you—" he was talking to ginger girl, the attraction he had for her was clear as day. How easy it is for them to find someone to care for and it all works out.

"My name is not 'little girl," ginger girl interrupted. "And I have no idea what you're talking about." She looked doubtful, like it pained her to think otherwise. Did she know what he was talking about? In this moment I made up my mind, I wasn’t going to let her leave alone, not until she tells me something true. "I don't believe in—in demons, or whatever you—"

Mac and I stood outside watching the girl, Clary, hail a cab with her friend. “You do know I’m going to follow them, right?” I asked, Mac nodded and motioned towards his motorcycle. He was a tad too young to have it but no one had stopped him yet. 

The girl had gone home, I typed the address into my phone before letting Mac continue the rest of the way home which wasn’t too far from hers.


	3. My brothers pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary isn't the only one poisoned. Will he survive like her or will his end be so soon?

Hello beautiful nerdlings, here is another chapter of my story that I hope yall will enjoy. For the record Aurelia, doesn’t know exactly what a shadow hunter is, just that it’s a something her mother had once said to a woman with long ginger hair. Madeline and Jocelyn had been friends while in the circle, Valentine didn’t know that Jocelyn knew the twins were his. He himself could barely recall that night. Jocelyn and Madeline agreed that they needed to keep their children apart since it was a larger beacon for Valentine. Clary had met Aurelia and Mac when they were very, very young. But anyways, head on over to my polyvore to see character pictures and outfits @Noellamonster. /Also maybe leave suggestions for who should play Raphael because I’m not too sure about who they have/ 

 

Last night wouldn’t leave my mind, they called themselves shadowhunters and the boy…they said he was a demon. I was left with more questions, so many questions I thought my brain might explode or overload. How does one live when they have no answers to any of the million questions buzzing in their head? 

The images of those people were burned into my mind, if I was good at drawing people like Mac was then maybe I could stop the pain thumping in my skull. I wondered if maybe he had drawn them. Sleepless hours passed before I finally gave up and threw off the comforter. 

With a groan, I stood and walked from my room, I had to go to the girls’ house. I doubt she had any answers but it’s better to have someone who understood why you’re so confused than to let your brain mingle and rot alone. 

After taking a quick shower I dressed and headed out. As soon as I stepped out I regretted my decision to wear a flannel, the groggy heat stuck my clothes to me like glued paper. It was an uncomfortable sensation. 

I walked into the house, an older dark skinned lady eyed me. “Hello” I spoke, “Is Clary home?” 

“It is unwise you be here” her eyes flick to the upstairs, to a door. “She lives there” with that she turned and went back into her home, her door shutting behind her. Her plaque read ‘Madame Dorothea.’ 

I walked up the stairs, the door was on its hinges. “Oh, shit”, I peeked in and saw no one living although something felt very wrong. Quickly I ran down the stairs and outside to my bike then quickly peddled my ass home where my brother was waiting for me. 

“Guessing you went to the girls’ house?” I nodded, my chest heaving with every breath. “And something bad happened?” he grinned. 

“Looks like someone broke in…but nothing was gone. What kind of robber takes nothing?”

“A murderer” he didn’t care, of course he didn’t care. 

Before I could retort the windows around us shattered, beastly things I had never seen before came crashing through. Several of them looked like a terrifying combination of a spider, scorpion, and crocodile. There were also two men with black markings covering their pasty white bodies. They were inhuman. 

Fear and shock mingled inside me, Mac was frozen in the same state. “Master said kill!” screeched the thing made out of children’s nightmares, “Kill all!” it’s screech was gurgled by purple liquid, and a knife protruded from its back. 

“Run, upstairs! Grab the bags and run!” my mom stood in the doorway, her expression grim and blood covering her side. She was swept up easily by one of the black marked humanoid beings, another knife was dug into the things hand but seemed to only irritate it. 

Mac roughly grabbed my hand and hauled through the door and up the stairs, the closed and barricaded door did little to diminish the screams of anguish fleeing from our mom. My heart dropped into my stomach, still racing as fast as ever. Mac pulled me along and shoved me into my room, I made for the duffel bag whose zipper was now there. Quickly ripping it open I found weapons and all the clothes I owned, most of which shouldn’t have been able to fit in this bag. I slung it over my shoulder along with the guitar that laid on my bed. Mac came tumbling through the door that connected our rooms, his duffel in hand along with a blade that looked similar to the one Jace brandished last night. 

One of the crossbred things crashed through my bedroom door, crawling its way up my wall and onto my ceiling. With ease Mac broke my window, shards flying everywhere. I picked up several of the shards as it launched itself at us, sending them spiraling into its disgusting deformed body. The nightmare creature twitched and convulsed as it fell from the ceiling and soon it diminished to dust. 

I might have felt triumphant if more hadn’t spilled into my room, Mac grabbed my arm and pushed me out of the window. We skidded down the roof and jumped into our small backyard where we once played all day, where our mother sprayed us with a hose on the hottest days of summer. 

These things didn’t give up, they flung themselves out of the window, one hurdling right onto me. Mac, without hesitation, ripped it from me, slashing it into ribbons. Still hearing the heart shattering screams of our mother, the blood curdling cries of the humanoid warriors and evil scorpion crocodiles. 

We ran, our hearts beating much faster than they ever have before, fast enough to kill us. 

We didn’t stop for the longest time and once we did tears burned my eyes, Mac leaned against me in a huff of pain. We hailed a taxi once we caught our breath, “Just drive we’ll tell you our destination once we figure it out.” Mac said. “Look through your duffel, maybe mom” his voice broke, “Maybe she put an address in our bags, she must have had a place for us to go…she must have” he may have been horrible at times but he loved us, he loved us so much that sometimes it didn’t matter how much he hated everyone else. 

I rummaged through my bag and sure enough there was an address, Mac told the driver who seemed reluctant to allow us to go there. “Are you sure?” he kept questioning, every time my brother assured him we haven’t changed our minds. 

Thirty minutes passed before we arrived at what looked to be an abandoned church but as I stared at the old and deteriorating building it transformed before my eyes. 

“You see it too, right?” I hadn’t realized I was crying until now; my voice was hoarse. 

“Yeah” Macs voice was weak, too weak to be his. I turned to see him hunched against the gate. Blood and a black liquid leaking out from his side and onto the dead grass. 

“Oh god” I wanted to scream but it wasn’t coming and maybe it was good that the scream wouldn’t come out. I grabbed hold of him and helped him to the building. Using the key around my neck I unlocked the door, it swung open and I dragged him inside. We were met with the bewildered stare of an older man.

“Help, please help” I pleaded, he bent and helped me lift Mac. He led me down several hallways until we were in a room with several cots, Clary was unconscious and lying on one. 

Isabelle and Alec rushed forward. “You saw us last night” Alec began.

“I don’t care where I saw you!” I screamed, anger and sadness boiled inside me, “Fix him! Fix my brother!” 

“Let them work, dear” the older man said, “Come with me, take up your bags and come with me” Isabelle and Alec went right to work on Mac who somewhere along the way lost consciousness. 

I took hold of my bags and his then let the old man lead me out of the room, “I’ll take you to a room, you can stay as long as needed” sympathy flowed through his words, “As long as you tell me what happened, as long as you tell me who you are.” And I did.

“Your mother was Madeline?” he questioned again, I couldn’t bring myself to answer him anymore. Questions didn’t matter, they wouldn’t matter until my brother was okay. I couldn’t lose my brother and my mother, not at once. I don’t know how I’d live. 

“Right, I am sorry my dear.” Hodge, that was this man’s name. “Thank you, Aurelia, for speaking to me when I’m sure it’s the last thing you want to be doing right now.” He left after that, I curled into the bed and let myself fall into a restless sleep. 

Several times I woke up that night, screaming and crying. Before Mac would have come in and comforted me until mom came in with some tea for my restless and nightmare filled slumber. But now I was alone, I was going to be alone until they fixed him…if they could fix him.


	4. Early morning reading and tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hodge makes plans for Mac, his death won't be the end of his life.

Hello fuckin’ nerds, here is a new chapter of my story that I hope yall will at least semi-enjoy. To see outfits and character pictures then head on over to my polyvore @Noellamonster. Also, I don’t own anything except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. So yeah, yall should like review or something. 

 

I gave up on sleeping around three in the morning, I left the room and walked through the halls of this foreign place. It was gorgeous, this building must be so old how could it possibly still be in such good shape?

Soon enough I stumbled upon the library, rows of books filled shelfs that reached the ceiling. It was heaven on earth, on impulse I snatched one from the shelf and flipped to the first page as I plopped onto the floor. 

By 7 in the morning I was finished with three books and was about to start a fourth when the old man, Hodge, walked in. A startled look crossed his face when he saw me. 

“A restless night?” he regained his composure quickly.

“Yeah” I breathed out a sigh, “Not uncommon but it was worse last night, more nightmares.” A sympathetic look crossed his face.

“Tonight I can make you something that will let you sleep easily through the night” he walked to the desk at the far end of the library.

“Thank you, can I visit my brother?” he expression changed yet again, now it was filled with worry.

“Of course, Church can take you to the infirmary.” As if on cue a blue cat with a squished face and piercing yellow eyes pranced up to me and rubbed against my leg. 

“Hi there, Church, care to show me the way?” with a meow he walked out from the library, I followed him closely. It wasn’t long before he sat and nudged the familiar door, “Thank you” I crouched down and pet him for probably way too long before walking into the room.

Macs skin was tinted grey and black spider-webbed veins popped out more than they should. Fear coursed through me and tears stung my eyes. “Hey” it was the boy from last night, Alec. 

“I didn’t get either of your names last night”

“Aurelia” I pointed to myself, voice devoid of emotion, “Mac” I pointed to my brother.

“Well, Aurelia, we don’t know if Mac is going to make it another night. My sister and I are doing all we can but nothing is working. A Ravener demon poisoned him, one poisoned Clary too but she looks to be taking better to the treatment.” His voice was bitter when he spoke about her. 

“…why?”

“I don’t know” was all he could say, he left not long after that.

“Ah, you’re the other girl from the mundie club” it was the boy with golden blonde hair, Jace I think. 

“And you’re the arrogant lion man.” Confusion flickered in his eyes but his expression was unchanging. 

“Mundanes make no sense” he muttered as he walked past me, his eyes flickered to Mac. “That your boyfriend?” he questioned, “He a shadow hunter?”

“He’s my brother and I don’t know…our mother and father were. Both were exiled as far as I know.”

“Stripped of their marks?” 

“She never said that, just that neither of them were welcome.” I shrugged. “I don’t know anything though, don’t understand it, don’t care for it unless it can somehow magically save my brother” my voice was hoarse and tears spilled freely down my cheeks.

“Magic” he laughed somewhat bitterly.

“It’s real, my mom used it to an extent. Self-taught witch, Hodge knows her…knew her.” I cleared my throat, “Yesterday we were attacked, at home, she…this thing killed her. He confirmed that last night. I think she knew it was going to happen, she enchanted duffel bags so they would fill with our belongings when they were needed.”

“I understand your grief, I share it.” I was surprised he was listening, “My father was killed when I was young while I was hiding in a closet” did the bitterness ever leave his voice? Although sadness crept in this time. “If what your mother says is true I can mark him with a healing rune, I can’t guarantee it will help him.” He stood and in his hand was something that I had seen in my duffel, “This is a stele” 

He walked back towards my brother, the stele glowing brightly as he drew a mark onto Macs chest. “This is called an iratze, a healing rune.” Golden light shimmered from the rune as it faded into his skin. “Now you wait.” With that he walked out.

“That was uncharacteristically kind of him.” Was everyone bitter here? I turn to see Alec walking in with a tray of fresh gauze, salve, and other medical things. 

“Seems like he understands loss”

“He does.” He slammed the tray down, the headache that was already forming now caused my head to throb. Then it hit me, with the few bitter words he had spoken it was easy to tell jealousy was strung through them. 

“No reason to be jealous, really.” I shook my throbbing head, “I’m not attracted to him” his face went blank and his shoulders slumped.

“What?”

“You know what I said, you don’t have to worry. Besides he doesn’t seem interested in me, open your eyes.” 

*Two days later

Clary had woken up, still aching but very much alive. Mac hadn’t woken up; Alec had lost hope that he would pull through. At first it seemed like the rune was working, his skin lost the grey hue but he remained unconscious with dropping vitals. 

“Aurelia” Alecs voice was soft, too soft. “Mac…” he couldn’t finish before I rushed past him. Hodge stood with Isabelle, Jace, and Clary. 

“I’m sorry” Clary was stiff as she looked down at my brother most likely thinking about how this could have been her if Jace hadn’t marked her when he did. He was too late when it came to my brother. 

Words refused to form and thoughts drifted away, everything was blank and everything hurt. I felt the floor underneath me before I knew I was falling, blackness gushed in and flooded my cloudy vision. 

*Author or whatever p.o.v

Tears flooded her vision, clouding it to the point she no longer could make out the shapes in front of her. Her breathing was strained as her world began spinning, the pain she felt bore down on her like torrents of rain in a storm. Alec raced forward as her world tilted and she fell to the wooden floor, he snaked his arms around her and pulled her up just before her head thumped against it. 

“Take her to her room, I need to brew some tea. Jace, Isabelle ready Macs body.” Hodge watched with sad eyes as Alec walked away with an unconscious Aurelia in his arms, he knew just how to numb her pain.

He strode to the greenhouse where he plucked the leaves of a special plant, the petals of another, and harvested the dew of yet another very special plant. These mixed with spices, a drop from a forbidden potion, and hot water would create a tea to take the pain away, it would feel as though she had coped and gotten over the death of the only people she ever had. 

The tea was a sickly shade of yellow but smelled like honey. Carefully Hodge carried the cup of tea to Aurelia’s room where she lay asleep. 

“Aurelia, wake” he shook her gently, she looked at him with tear filled eyes. “Hush child, drink this” he spoke before she could make a sound, he added several drops of a sleeping potion to aid in her sleep. Jace and Alec had prepared Macs body, tomorrow the silent brothers would come. Although that is not something they knew, a secret Hodge kept to himself. As he took his last breath a collective “Ave Atque Vale.” Was whispered in voices that carried the pain of this loss. 

“Is she okay?” Hodge nearly dropped the cup in his hand, he whirled around and came face to face with Alec. Alec had grown fond of her very quickly, unlike how he felt with Clary. 

“I gave her something that will help her cope, she will be much better by tomorrow but for now she must sleep. Worry not Alec, she will be fine.”

With a nod Alec walked away, Isabelle was waiting for him in his room. “How is she?” 

“Hodge made her something” he shrugged, “Somehow it’s going to make her cope with both her brother and mother dying within three days of each other” he was bitter and doubtful. 

“Trust Hodge, if he said he gave her something to help then believe it. I do” she walked past her brother, stopping at his door. “It looks like she’ll be staying with us. I imagine Hodge alerted the clave, an underage girl with the blood of shadowhunter can’t go uncared for.” 

“You think mom and dad will take her in?”

She smiled, “Of course, you already act like she’s your new sister.” With that she walked away to her own room, leaving Alec to fret over the possible outcome.


	5. Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec trains Aurelia, coming to realize she's already skilled.

Hey there fuckin’ nerds, here’s another chapter of my story for yall to read, hope yall will at least semi-enjoy my shitty writing. Leave a review if you do though. If you want to see character pictures and outfits, then head on over to my polyvore @Noellamonster. And, as usual, I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners.

 

Alec had spent much of the morning training me, my body ached in places I didn’t know it could. “Your movements are graceful—for a beginner.”

“My mom” I stopped, my heart sinking, “She, uh, she had my brother and I do gymnastics and ballet ever since we were really young. Said it would help us in the future.” I shook my head as Alec walked closer looking unsure.

“She was right; it’s helping you a lot. She taught you how to fight too didn’t she?”

“Yeah…” I didn’t feel like talking about her anymore. 

“I think you might fight better against Jace—” I shook my head violently before he could finish speaking. 

“I’m just getting the hang of it, unless you want to murder me…” 

“Why would I want to murder you? Jace wouldn’t hurt you that much” he seemed confused. 

“It’s a saying Alec” 

For the next hour we went over everything he had taught me, including the runes I would use the most. 

“You learn fast, faster than even Jace had” he looked deep in thought even though he had just talked to me. “Are you sure your mother didn’t teach you anything about runes?”

“Again, I’m five-thousand percent sure. Jace was the first person to teach me anything about them.” He nodded at my response. 

“Interesting” he mumbled. 

 

"I'm from Brooklyn!" Clarys cheeks turned red as she yelled "And so what? I just killed a demon in my own house, and you're going to be a dickhead about it because I'm not some spoiled-rotten rich brat like you and your sister?"

My eyes went wide with shock; she didn’t look like she could fathom calling someone that name yet here she was calling Alec a dickhead. 

Alec looked astonished. "What did you call me?"

Jace laughed. "She has a point, Alec," Jace said. "It's those bridge-and-tunnel demons you really have to watch out for—"

"It's not funny, Jace," Alec interrupted, starting to his feet. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Jace said kindly. "It'll do you good—try to think of it as endurance training."

"We may be parabatai," Alec said tightly. "But your flippancy is wearing on my patience."

"And your obstinacy is wearing on mine. When I found her, she was lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a dying demon practically on top of her. I watched as it vanished. If she didn't kill it, who did?"

"Raveners are stupid. Maybe it got itself in the neck with its stinger. It's happened before—"

"Now you're suggesting it committed suicide?" his brow raised, “And what about that one, is she lying too?”

Alec's mouth tightened. "That’s beside the point, Aurelia is more capable than her! It isn't right for her to be here anyway. Mundies aren't allowed in the Institute, and there are good reasons for that. If anyone knew about this, we could be reported to the Clave."

"That's not entirely true," Hodge said. "The Law does allow us to offer sanctuary to Mundanes in certain circumstances. A Ravener has already attacked Clary's mother—she could well have been next." Hodge looked from Clary to me, sympathy shining in his eyes. 

 

"Hodge said I can go home." Clary tore her eyes away from Alec and turned to Jace. 

Jace nearly dropped the seraph blade he was holding. "He said what?"

"To look through my mother's things," she amended. "If you go with me."

 

"Jace," Alec exhaled, but Jace ignored him. Was Jace really that blind? 

 

"If you really want to prove that my mom or dad was a Shadowhunter, we should look through my mom's things. What's left of them."

"Down the rabbit hole." Jace grinned crookedly. "Good idea. If we go right now, we should have another three, four hours of daylight."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Alec asked, as Clary and Jace moved toward the door. Clary glanced back at him. He was half-out of the chair, eyes expectant. I pulled him back down to sitting position, ready to not make him feel like shit when Jace turned him down for the pretty ginger. 

“No.” he didn’t even turn around to face Alec, “That’s all right. Clary and I can handle this on our own.” Something in his tone told me he knew this would hurt Alec, I don’t think he’d ever hurt him without reason but this was just a tad messed up. 

The look Alec shot Clary was venomous, and hidden behind that anger was jealousy and hurt. 

With that they walked out leaving Alec and I in the weapon room, “Alec, how are you feeling?”

“Angry.” He scowled, “That—that bitch! She can’t just waltz in here and take him!” he yelled as he pushed himself away from the metal table and stood to pace. 

“Alec, has Jace ever shown interest in a guy at all? Or has he just dated girls, flirted with girls, had flings with girls?” he looked at me, exasperation clear as day but there was so much more behind the façade. Anguish, jealousy, confusion, pain, and other emotions that I couldn’t describe. “I know it hurts but maybe you need to work on moving on from Jace to someone who can love you the way you deserve; the way you crave to be loved.” He sat again, his face in his hands and his shoulders tense. 

“How about instead of dwelling on things we can’t change you teach me more runes?” I suggested, he looked up from his hands. 

“Of course” and with that we delved into studying more runes, several times he had asked me to take a break in fear of my well-being which I didn’t understand. He seemed shocked that I whizzed through them with little effort. 

“No headache, nausea, nothing?” I leaned back in the chair, tearing my eyes away from the book. 

“No, I feel fine.” He pursed his lips. 

“Okay, interesting.” He huffed, he was still hurt from Jace’s rejection. “Let’s go over some weapons and demons.” I jumped up and urged him to follow me, with a questioning look he did. 

I held up my sketchbook, on various pages were the things that had invaded my home. I can’t draw people but whatever these were come much easier. “These things” I pointed to the nightmare creatures. 

“Raveners, is that what happened at your house?” in the drawing was the layout of the living room with smashed windows and torn through walls. Furniture lay broken and scattered, my mother was held by the human like creature. 

“Yes” my voice was hoarse, my throat tight as tears burned my eyes. 

“The other creatures are Forsaken” he explained how these things came to be. “Your mom must have made someone very angry” 

“I can’t imagine who” I let him take the sketchbook from my hand and went to the duffel that held my things, I brought out the foreign objects and set them on the bed. 

“These are seraph blades; I imagine they don’t have names so you must name them. They respond to them, come to life. This is a sensor, it senses demon activity, Isabelle turned hers into a necklace. Take it to her and she’ll make yours into one too. And this is a witch light.” He stated, “Seraph blades kill down-worlders, or wound them to a point where it takes a long time to heal. They kill demons, prevent them from healing. The sensor senses demon activity, the stronger the pulse the more demons or the more powerful the demon. The witch light produces a pure light, the light burns demons and vampires but won’t do much else.” 

He picked up a long black crystal with silver lines twining down the length of it. The tip glowed as he held it, “This is a Stele, I’ve never seen a black one though.” He turned it over in his hand, “It’s used to create the runes.” 

 

“What color is yours then?”

“Pale pink” that surprised me, I’ve seen his wardrobe and everything is black although my wardrobe isn’t much different. 

“Now” he set a book on my bed, “You can take some time to look through that book, every demon and down-worlder known to shadowhunters is depicted in that book.” 

Not long after that he left me alone to look through the book, two pages were dedicated to each down-worlder and demon, one with a picture and one with a description, origin, its weakness, how dangerous, and so on.


	6. Blue skin and a trip home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurelia makes a trip back home to retrieve family pictures, her heart crumbling seeing the wreckage. Alec takes on a brotherly role.

Hey nerdlings, here’s another chapter of my story for yall to enjoy. To see other stories of mine you can head on over to Fanfiction.net. To see character outfits and pictures head on over to my polyvore @Noellamonster. As usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. Thanks for readying hope yall enjoy 

 

“Dinner smells…interesting” I remarked as I shifted on the counter. 

“Really?” Isabelle smiled, it did smell very interesting but not in a good way. “I got the recipe from a water sprite” she wiggled her brows at me, “Quite cute if I do say so myself.”

“A water sprite? Isn’t their skin blue?” 

“Well, some but they have huge—”

“Iz, shut up” Alec stopped her, I didn’t think he was paying attention up until now. 

She smirked and shook her head, her silky black hair tied up in a messy bun. “Oh come on Alec, it’s just a little girl talk. Aurelia doesn’t mind, maybe I can set her up with one of my guy friends”

“Guy friends?” he scoffed, “Whatever you like to call them, I don’t think she’d like them”

“Why, because they’re down-worlders?” she seemed very defensive of them especially for being a shadowhunter. 

“A shadowhunter being with down-worlders…like that? Isn’t that against Clave law?” 

“Technically, no” Alec shrugged, “But the Clave does have regulations and other laws for shadowhunter dating and marriage. Such as a shadowhunter cannot marry a mundane nor a down-worlder, the price for breaking that law is your marks.” he looked down at his boots, a sad look crossing his face. “And Shadowhunters are looked down upon if dating those of the same sex. It’s unheard of.” His voice was tight like coiled wire, he shifted uncomfortably as a sigh escaped his lips. 

“What does that mean, ‘your marks’? Jace before had asked if my mom had been stripped of her marks.” I tried to ignore the fact their world was one based off judgment and hatred.

Isabelle looked away, making it clear she wasn’t going to answer. “It means” Alec looked from Isabelle to me, “That a shadowhunters runes, their marks, are taken from them and they become a simple mundane.”

“I’ve heard that a special few times the ritual went wrong” Isabelle spoke as she tossed fish into the soup, “Stripped them of their shadowhunter status instead of their marks, turned them into Forsaken”

“That has never happened” Alec hushed her before she could speak anymore on the subject, he looked confident in his words but his voice wavered. 

“Is it all right if I go for a walk?” I asked after a few moments of silence. 

“I suppose so, take your stele and seraph blade with you” Alec spoke as he walked from the kitchen into the dining room. I walked through the opposite door which lead to a hallway that branched out in several ways. 

It took me a few minutes to pick my way through the never ending hallways and stair cases that lead to the front door, I walked out and made my way through the front yard. 

Across the street, I could see Jace and Clary walking with a fairly tall boy with warm skin, dazzling hazel eyes covered by glasses, and brown curly hair. Another shadowhunter? He seemed too frazzled to be one that knew what he was, maybe he was Clarys boyfriend. But wouldn’t that make it awkward? 

Zipping my jacket up as I walked I noticed just how cold I was, no matter the temperature during the day once 11 at night hit it got cold fast. 

After an hour of walking I stopped and ordered a vegan personal pizza at quite possibly the best vegan restaurant in all of New York. “Don’t you think it’s a little late for you to be walking around alone?” the man asked, concern knitting his furrowed brow.

“I don’t know” I shrugged, I wasn’t worried. Not after what I had seen, what could be worse than that? No mugger or scum of a person bothered me anymore, they couldn’t possibly do anything worse than the forsaken and Ravener demons.

“Well, be careful little lady, there are some dangerous people in this world” he smiled gently. 

“Not just people” I mutter as I walked away.

I didn’t stop walking until I reached my home, my old home. The whole wall on one side was torn in, how no one had noticed was a mystery to me. I walked in through the enormous hole. 

The mangled furniture and blood stained floor made me involuntarily shudder, black ooze coated one wall, purple blood splattered against another. My mother fought until she died, she was strong and brave. Stronger than I knew, stronger than I could ever be. 

Cautiously I walked up the stairs, I poked through each room but no one was there. Finally, I walked into Macs room, his phone laid on his nightstand. The picture of his girlfriend dimly lighting up the screen. I picked it up just as she texted him, “Mac, why are you ignoring me?” 

With a sigh I called her, “Hey, Cady?”

“Aurelia! Thank god, where’s Mac?” she sounded frantic but relieved that I had called. 

“He’s…he was killed” my throat tightened and my eyes burned. “My mom was too; I’m staying with some distance relatives. We’ve already had the funeral” I gushed. 

“Oh Aurelia” she cried, half an hour later we had finally hung up. She would alert all his friends of what had happened, I lied and told her the cops had already arrested the person who killed them; my father. He was the only person I could make up with a motive. And for all I know he was the one. I slipped his phone in my pocket then walked around his room, his clothes and very important items were in the duffel at the institute.

His room smelt like him and I felt my heart crumble to little pieces, the pain wasn’t as bad as it should have been. Hodge made sure of that, he said he wasn’t sure how I would have survived without the special tea. 

Next I went into my mom’s room, burnt out candles were set out all around the room. She had a habit of always having at least one candle burning in each room of the house other than mine and Macs, Mac hated a lot of candles. 

I opened my bag and slipped family pictures inside along with some of my mom’s things, I couldn’t leave them here to rot or be stolen. 

By two in the morning I was walking back to the institute, darkness wrapping around me like a blanket. 

“Do you know what time it is?!” was screamed as I walked through the front door, “I said you could go for a walk not an exploration!” 

I sank to my knees, my head thumping against the wooden door. “Aurelia, you’re not trained enough.” His voice softened, “Where did you go?”

“I went to my home” my voice cracked more than I’d like, I opened my bag and pulled out a picture of my mom, Mac, and I; taken months ago at her friend’s wedding. 

Alec sat beside me, he took the picture in his hands. “That’s your mom?”

“Yeah” 

“You look a lot like her, very beautiful. Come, let’s get you to bed.” He helped me up after letting me put the picture back in my bag.

Before letting myself undress I put the various pictures around my room along with the few objects I had taken. I set my brothers phone in the drawer along with mine, I doubt either would be used ever again. 

“I brought some tea, green tea with honey.” Alec set the cup on the nightstand. “Try to get some sleep, we have a visitor coming in the morning” he shuddered, “The Silent Brothers.”


	7. Taki's and jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jealousy is an ugly color, when will they learn?

Hey nerdlings, here’s another chapter of my story that I hope yall will at least semi-enjoy. To see character outfits and pictures head on over to my polyvore @Noellamonster. And as usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. Yall should, like, review or something. 

 

“Okay so” I muttered to myself, “A lot of shit happened while they were gone and while I was gone.” Alec had woken me up and filled me in on details of last night while I dressed, apparently, we were going to have to breakfast at some down-worlder type of place called Taki’s. Whatever, I was hungry. 

I slid on a pair of black shorts and a black cropped boho shirt, the sleeves were loose and long. Grumpily I pulled on a pair of boots and grabbed my bag, I had already gone through my morning routine. 

“You really hate mornings.” Alec noted. 

“I also hate pimples but do you see my reindeer nose caring right now?” I mocked. 

“Healing rune works on that.” He grinned, “Why do you think we have perfect skin?”

“How am I supposed to know? Just hurry up please, I don’t want to go out looking like Rudolph.” 

“Who’s Rudolph?” he questioned as he drew the rune over the sizeable red bump. 

“Shh you under privileged peanut, I shall teach you the simple pleasures of the mundane world. But right now, food.” It didn’t take long to walk to the restaurant. It was a rather plain, unimpressive solid grey building. Kind of like a tiny jail. Was that its theme?

No, it was not, I learned that as soon as we walked in. Many down-worlders preoccupied the seats and booths. Alec and I slid onto one side with Jace while Clary was on the other side, Isabelle and Simon joined her soon after. 

"So how did it go at the Bone City?" Isabelle asked, flipping her menu open. "Did you find out what's in Clary's head?"

"We got a name," said Jace. "Magnus—"

"Shut up," Alec hissed, thwacking Jace with his closed menu.

Jace looked injured. "Jesus." He rubbed his arm. "What's your problem?"

"This place is full of Down-worlders. You know that. I think you should try to keep the details of our investigation secret."

"Investigation?" Isabelle laughed. "Now we're detectives? Maybe we should all have code names."

"Good idea," said Jace. "I shall be Baron Hotschaft Von Hugenstein."

Alec spit his water back into his glass. At that moment, the waitress arrived to take their order. Up close she was still a pretty blond girl, but her eyes were unnerving—entirely blue, with no white or pupil at all. She smiled with sharp little teeth. "Know what you're having?"

Jace grinned. "The usual," he said, and got a smile from the waitress in return.

"Me too," Alec chimed in, though he didn't get the smile. I chose toasted sourdough bread, fruit salad, and a coffee. Isabelle fastidiously ordered a fruit smoothie, Simon asked for coffee, and Clary, after a moment's hesitation, chose a large coffee and coconut pancakes. The waitress winked a blue eye at her and flounced off.

"Is she an ifrit too?" Clary asked, watching her go.

"Kaelie? No. Part-fey, I think," said Jace.

"She's got nixie eyes," said Isabelle thoughtfully.

"You really don't know what she is?" asked Simon.

Jace shook his head. "I respect her privacy." He nudged Alec. "Hey, let me out for a second."

I groaned as Alec in turn nudged me, both of us slid and stood, waiting for his royal highness to come back.   
Kaelie turned to smile at Jace, who put an arm around her. She snuggled in. So much for respecting her privacy, Clary looked on with jealousy flickering in her eyes.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "He really shouldn't tease the wait-staff like that."

Alec looked at her. "You don't think he means it? That he likes her, I mean."

Isabelle shrugged. "She's a Down-worlder," she said, as if that explained everything.

"I don't get it," said Clary.

Isabelle glanced at her without interest. "Get what?"

 

“Alec, please don’t make me kill you” I groaned into my pillow, I had just managed to fall asleep but of course Alec was nudging me awake. 

“Not my fault we’re going to this party, blame Clary.”

“Will do.” I groaned again as I stood, stretching the stiffness from my limbs. “Leave so I can change” he nodded and stepped from my room. I grabbed a dress from my closet that Isabelle had given me earlier. I slipped it on and prayed to whatever god there was that my boobs stayed in place, just in case pasties were definetly used. 

“I hate everyone.” I said as I walked from my room, there stood all three boys. “I want sleep.”

“I’m with you.” Alec said as I stood next to him, “We’re just waiting for Isabelle and Clary.” He added with a roll of his eyes. 

“How fun” I yawned for what felt like the millionth time, they came out a few minutes later. Isabelle was disappointed with my lack of glitter so of course she fixed that right up. 

“Suddenly it’s like I’m one of those pathetic Twilight vampires” I said as I looked into Isabelle’s full length mirror, Clary laughed in agreement. 

“Twilight?” Isabelle looked confused.

“Okay that one I won’t fix, you’re better off without it.” 

"It's so short," Simon gasped in confusion. The boys had half tried to dress him up but he still looked hopelessly nerdy and grungy. 

"I like the dress," Jace said, unhitching himself from the wall. His eyes ran up and down her lazily, like the stroking paws of a cat. "It needs a little something extra, though."

"So now you're a fashion expert?" Her voice came out unevenly—he was standing very close to her. Alec looked away, looking ready to drop out of this mission and slink back into bed. 

He took something out of his jacket and handed it to her. It was a long thin dagger in a leather sheath. The hilt of the dagger was set with a single red stone carved in the shape of a rose.

 

Clary shook her head. "I wouldn't even know how to use that—"

 

He pressed it into her hand, curling her fingers around it. "You'd learn." He dropped his voice. "It's in your blood."

 

She drew her hand back slowly. "All right."

 

"I could give you a thigh sheath to put that in," Isabelle offered. "I've got tons."

"CERTAINLY NOT," Simon nearly cried out, making my left ear start ringing. 

 

Clary shot him an irritated look. "Thanks, but I'm not really a thigh sheath kind of girl." She slid the dagger into the outside pocket on her backpack.

She looked up from closing it to find Jace watching her through hooded eyes. "And one last thing," he said. He reached over and pulled the sparkling pins out of her hair, so that it fell in warm and heavy curls down her neck. 

"Much better," his voice husky and uneven. I rolled my eyes and linked my arm with Alec’s, Clary wasn’t as oblivious with how he felt about Jace. She should be mindful, should talk to Jace about it. It was better than doing what they were right now. 

“Can we leave yet? I’m going to need a coffee to be able to handle any of this bullshit.” 

“Agreed.” Alec tugged me forward, we were the first out of the house and onto the vacant streets. 

We stopped and each got something to boost our energy but wouldn’t make us crash and sleep immediately after.


	8. A night with a downworlder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurelia gets swept up in the beauty and charm of a certain downworlder.

Hello nerdlings, I currently have bronchitis and feel like my lungs want to escape my body. Truly a wonderful feeling. Anyways, here is another chapter of my story that I hope yall will at least semi-enjoy. As usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. 

 

The crisp night air was a reprieve from the sticky heat during the day, a cooling breeze fluttered against our exposed skin. 

The directions on the invite led us into a more industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, not one of my favorite places to be. Mac liked to explore these neighborhoods, said he saw the craziest things sometimes. 

Here the streets were lined with factories and warehouses, some of them had been converted into lofts and galleries, but there was still something forbidding about their looming square shapes, boasting only a few windows covered in iron grilles.

Slowly we made our way from the subway, Isabelle navigating the empty streets with her sensor. Alec looked back, his eyes sad. I followed his gaze and noticed how close Jace and Clary are, they were whispering to each other. Both looking breathless and distracted from their main priority. 

“You’re making the situation harder on yourself.” I sighed, “I know you love him, but this keeps tearing you down and eating away at your insides. Love hurts but it shouldn’t hurt this much. He’s for pretty ladies and you’re for pretty guys, you’ll find someone but I can promise it will never be him. I’m sorry.” 

He didn’t respond, his shoulders slumped and the tension in his body disappeared. He had exhausted himself with efforts to impress Jace and catch his attention like he had captured his. 

"This is the right street!" called Isabelle, a quarter of a block ahead. We were on a narrow avenue lined with old warehouses, though most now bore the signs of human residence: window boxes filled with flowers, lace curtains blowing in the cool night breeze, numbered plastic trash cans stacked on the sidewalk. It all seemed so mundane, how could my brother seen what he said he had here? 

"Jace!" Alec called out, his eyes lighting up again.

Jace turned, his hand falling away from Clarys’ shoulder. "Yes?"

"Think we're in the right place?" Alec was pointing at the several sleek silver motorcycles settled behind a rather large black van.

"What's that?" Jace joined Alec; he laughed as he came closer. Clary hurried to see what the commotion was about, she looked uneasy about them. 

 

"Vampires," Jace said.

 

"They look like motorcycles to me," said Simon, joining them with Isabelle at his side. She frowned at the bikes.

"They are, but they've been altered to run on demon energies," she explained. "Vampires use them—it lets them get around fast at night. It's not strictly Covenant, but…"

"I've heard some of the bikes can fly," said Alec eagerly. I was glad he was seemingly happy again. "Or go invisible at the flick of a switch. Or operate under water."

Jace had jumped down off the curb and was circling the bikes, examining them. He reached out a hand and stroked one of the bikes along the sleek chassis. It had words painted along the side, in silver: nox invictus. "Victorious night," he translated.

 

Alec was looking at him strangely. "What are you doing?"

 

With a grin Jace slipped something silver into his pocket. "Nothing."

"Well, hurry up," said Isabelle. "I didn't get this dressed up to watch you mess around in the gutter with a bunch of motorcycles."

“I mean, they are pretty cool.” I admitted, running my fingers along one. “I wouldn’t mind having one.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes, “You guys are ruining her.”

"They are pretty to look at," said Jace, hopping back up on the pavement. "You have to admit that."

"So am I," said Isabelle, who didn't look inclined to admit anything. "Now hurry up."

Jace was looking at Clary. "This building," he said, pointing at the red brick warehouse. "Is this the one?"

Clary exhaled. "I think so," she said uncertainly. "They all look the same."

"One way to find out," said Isabelle, mounting the steps with a determined stride. The rest of us followed, crowding close to one another in the foul-smelling entryway. A naked bulb hung from a cord overhead, illuminating a large metal-bound door and a row of apartment buzzers along the left wall. Only one had a name written over it: bane.

Isabelle pressed the buzzer. Nothing happened. She pressed it again. She was about to press it a third time when Alec caught her wrist. "Don't be rude," he said.

 

She glared at him. "Alec—"

The door flew open.

 

A slender man standing in the doorway regarded us curiously. It was Isabelle who recovered herself first, flashing a brilliant smile. "Magnus? Magnus Bane?"

"That would be me." The man blocking the doorway was as tall and thin as a rail, his hair a crown of dense black spikes. He wore jeans and a black shirt covered with dozens of metal buckles. His eyes were crusted with a raccoon mask of charcoal glitter, his lips painted a dark shade of blue. He raked a ring-laden hand through his spiked hair and regarded them thoughtfully. "Children of the Nephilim," he said. "Well, well. I don't recall inviting you."

Isabelle took out her invitation and waved it like a white flag. "I have an invitation. These"—she indicated the rest of our group with a grand wave of her arm—"are my friends."

Magnus plucked the invitation out of her hand and looked at it with fastidious distaste. "I must have been drunk," he said. He threw the door open. "Come in. And try not to murder any of my guests."

After a few more words from Jace we finally filed in, Clary practically clung to Jace at first. Then I couldn’t see her. I did find the bar though, and that was something I could handle. 

The loft was huge and almost totally empty of furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows were smeared with a thick film of dirt and paint, blocking out most of the ambient light from the street. Big metal pillars wound with colored lights held up an arched, sooty ceiling. Doors torn off their hinges and laid across dented metal garbage cans made a makeshift bar at one end of the room. A lilac-skinned woman in a metallic bustier was ranging drinks along the bar in tall, harshly colored glasses that tinted the fluid inside them: blood red, cyanosis blue, poison green. Even for a New York bartender she worked with an amazingly speedy efficiency—probably helped along by the fact that she had a second set of long, graceful arms to go with the first. 

The rest of the crowd was just as strange. A good-looking boy with wet green-black hair grinned at Clary over a platter of what looked like raw fish. His teeth were sharp and serrated, like a shark's. Beside him stood a girl with long dirty-blond hair, braided with flowers. Under the skirt of her short green dress, her feet were webbed like a frog's. A group of young women so pale it made you wonder if they were wearing white stage makeup sipped scarlet liquid too thick to be wine from fluted crystal glasses. The center of the room was packed with bodies dancing to the pounding beat that bounced off the walls, although I hadn’t seen a band yet. 

“Hello” someone’s voice drawled, warm and deep, careful. I turned, a down-worlder stood waiting with a lazy smile. His skin was the color of warmth, of autumn, sweet honey, his eyes so dark they appeared black—they actually might have been. Black wisps of curly hair stuck out from sweat. 

“Hi, who are you?” my voice even, maybe a little flirty. He was rather attractive, he couldn’t be older than 17, he was a few inches taller than I was. He had a slight build, more than Jace, kind of close to Alec. 

“Raphael, and you, Nephilim?” of course he knew what I was, it was easy to guess it. My marks didn’t help. 

“Aurelia.”

“An old name, older than I.” he was closer now, his lips stained red from the drink in his hand. 

“Vampire?” I guessed, he nodded lazily. 

“You’re quite beautiful for a Nephilim, you stand out from even them.”

Conversation flowed easily for what felt like seconds, but so little time couldn’t have passed; too many songs were played. It must have been near an hour if not more. 

Raphael held me close as we danced, my back pressed against him, low gasps escaping my lips. He spun me, pulling me against him once again except this time I faced him. His leg between mine, almost pulling me onto him as we breathlessly danced. 

As another song ended he pulled me from the dance floor and out onto the street the cool hair prickled my warm skin like needles, Raphael’s lips came hungrily down on my own, “Come back with me, Princess.” He muttered against my lips. 

“Sounds like fun” his lips were soft, cold, his kisses hungry and needy, passionate, and breathless. We straddled his bike and drove off, going much faster than any other motorcycle would be able to. 

Not soon enough he was leading me down a set of stairs, his arms around me as our lips met again, my hands tangled in his hair. I didn’t know we had moved from the metal stairs until he was throwing me onto a bed, the wood groaning as he bounded after me. 

His shirt discarded, shoes, pants, dress. Gone. Skin clashing with skin, sweat beading on my skin, purpling marks adorning my neck and chest, adorning his. He was careful not to draw blood, who knows what would happen if he drank from a Nephilim, death most likely. 

Our breathing harsh, labored, the sheets falling from the bed, moans echoing around the room. 

We laid together after, his button-down shirt hanging loosely around me. Suddenly he became alert, “Stay here, I will be back.” His lips so softly embraced mine his hand cupping my face. “Aurelia, you are something very special.” He whispered, his dark eyes flickered with intense emotions. “Wait for me.” with that he left.

I knew what I had done would get me killed, banished, or something horrible. But it felt right, maybe it was the fruity drinks talking, maybe I genuinely felt something for this down-worlder. 

I stood and dressed in my clothes, I knew I should leave, I should heal the marks he left on my skin. That seemed so harsh though. 

I ran, grabbing at the door and ripping it open. Screaming, screaming echoed off the walls and made my blood run cold. I couldn’t do anything, the stairs leading down to them were gone, I was too high to jump. 

Clary and Jace stood cornered by wolves and vampires alike. Raphael leading them, blood covered his chest. Clarys eyes met mine, I shook my head violently and placed a finger against my lips. I pray she keeps this a secret. 

Raphael notices her gaze; his dark eyes meet mine. Blood soaks his front half; his face is pale. Clary and Jace escape within that second, Raphael orders his followers to go after them. 

I didn’t know vampires could fly. But hell, I guess that would explain why they don’t need stairs. 

“You’ll heal, right?” why was I so frantic? He was a down-worlder, everything I had read went against this, I should be happy, rejoicing. But instead it stung to see him like this. 

I helped him to the bed, laying him gingerly on it before taking off his shirt. “I already am, princess” he smiled but it looked like it hurt. “Can you hand me that?” he motioned toward a bottle half filled with dark red liquid. He downed it easily, the wound was healed and didn’t leave even the tiniest scar behind. 

I washed the blood from his chest, his eyes heavily lidded as he watched me. His fingers running through my hair, as I finished he pulled me onto his lap.

“You were going to leave” he sounded genially hurt, he stroked my side earning a low purr like sound from me. “Why?”

“Because it’s early morning, I need to get back” my breath caught in my throat as his lips fluttered across my neck. “I know what we did was wrong” he stopped, pulling back. “You know it too. Which is why it has to stay a secret, just between us. And Clary.” I admitted, he looked confused. 

“Is that all?” he seemed to be waiting for me to either plunge my knife into his chest or tell him it could never happen again. Was this normal? 

“No.” I managed to say, “I want to keep seeing you, I want to know you more…” my heart hammered against my ribcage. I should be worried about Jace and Clary, I should want to go see what became of the situation. 

This time I was the one pulling him closer, our lips melting together in the warmth of passion. His hands gripping my waist as my dress slipped down my shoulders and exposed my chest once more. He wasted no time, his lips moving over every inch of skin. 

“I must sleep” Raphael’s hair was a mess; I doubt mine looked any better. “Promise to come back tonight.” We laid together, he held me against his chest, my head resting in the crook of his neck. My fingers lazily drifting over the scar on his chest. I hadn’t even realized I had fallen asleep until he woke me.

“I’ll try.”

“If not I will come find you” 

“It’s a dangerous game we’re playing.” I moved from his arms and redressed yet again, I didn’t want to go back alone. He held my hand as he walked me to the exit, or rather the entrance. Sunlight streaked in from a metal hatch. 

“Will you be able to open it and get out safely?” he held me away from the light, he would be burned if he went in it. 

“My mother taught me a few tricks.” Softly I kissed him goodbye. 

The hatch flung open with a wave of my hand, blinding light filled the room. Raphael watched from a dark corner, a sleepy smiled graced his face. I jumped, barely grabbing hold of the ground above, and hauled myself up. I shut the hatch and kicked the garbage bags over it. 

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Alec screamed once I walked into the institute, he was dressed in pajamas still. His eyes shot open once he saw my chest, “WHO?!” he screamed even louder. 

I screeched as I ran from him and locked myself in my room, hurriedly I threw off my clothes and jumped into the shower before it got the chance to heat up. 

“I can wait” he gritted his teeth, I heard the familiar click of the door shutting and sighed in relief. 

“I miss Mac” tears welled in my eyes as I sat on the shower floor. He would have acted the same, he would have been so upset that I went and disappeared, only to return looking like a disheveled mess. 

The motorcycles sorely reminded me of Mac too. Seemingly everything managed to. My hand went up to where my heart would be, a mourning and remembrance ruin was permanently etched into my skin. It helped the pain, so did the tea. But nothing could heal a pain like this. I’ve lost the only two people I’ve ever had. And now I’m risking my new family for some boy. 

After washing and healing the marks littering my skin, I dressed and went to Alecs room. Tears welling in my eyes as I poured every feeling out, how much I missed my family, how I felt like I betrayed the people who have taken me in, the hopelessness burning in my chest.


End file.
